CHENNAI: The tunnel work for Chennai Metro Rail Phase-II project was launched by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday with the first tunnel boring machine, which arrived from China on June 30, commencing operation to bore the 1.4km-long stretch between Madhavaram Milk Colony Depot and Madhavaram High Road Stations. Tunnel boring of the stretch will be completed in five to six months, said Chennai Metro Rail Managing Director M A Siddique.
The Chennai Metro Rail is planning to use 23 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) in Phase-II. Eight machines have arrived so far, the MD said. “We will be deploying seven TBMs to build two tunnels between Madhavaram depot and Kellys on Corridor-3 in the next two months. All the 23 TBMs which will arrive soon will be put to use over the next few months,” he said. Phase-II will have a 42.6km-long underground section with 48 metro stations.
“We are planning to start tunnelling soon from Greenways Road,” he said. Siddique said the elevated corridors under Phase-II will be commissioned by 2025 while the underground stretch will take some more time. “On a given day, a TBM can drill only 10 metres but we are hoping to complete work by 2026 or beginning of 2027,” said the MD.